2026 Newsletter #4

A brief programming note at the top: This is the fourth of our weekly newsletters, but the first of our second session, for the 2026 season. Most weeks they’ll be published on Tuesdays, though occasionally they’ll come out Wednesday instead. In these newsletters we aim to provide you a snapshot of the week at Pemi, highlighting special events, daily happenings, the breadth of our program, and the general flow of each week. Trying to capture everything that goes on in a given day at Pemi, let alone a week, would be a fool’s errand, so please know that this represents just a portion of all that our campers get up to. In addition to going out via email, the newsletters are posted on our blog. If someone in your household should be receiving this email and didn’t get it, please let me know at pat@camppemi.com. I hope you have as much fun reading these newsletters as I do writing them, although admittedly neither of those come close to the amount of fun the boys are having living this all out. On with the newsletter….

Welcome to the second session of Pemi 2026!

The last week at Pemi was one of the busiest stretches of the summer, which is saying something given how busy we are all the time here at camp! Since the last newsletter, we’ve seen a number of trips return, we’ve held our Birthday Banquet, given out first session awards, thrown cabin parties, said goodbye to our first session boys, participated in a statewide loon count, sent the full session guys off to the waterpark, hosted full session families for visiting weekend, welcomed in our second session boys, had our Pemi West boys arrive and depart, put on two campfires, watched the World Cup final, sent out a number of trips, and participated in a number of intercamp tournaments. Changeover weekend is a whirlwind of both events and emotions, as we’re sad to see our first session campers depart, proud to celebrate our full session campers, and then thrilled to welcome in the second session boys.

If you’ve read previous newsletters, you’ve seen me claim that the action at Pemi is nonstop, starting from the second the boys arrive and continuing right on through the end of each session. One of our departing first session campers illustrated just how true that is during a brief conversation I had with him on Saturday morning, hours before he was set to be picked up. While walking up the road before breakfast, I asked him what his plans are for the rest of the summer, expecting to hear back about whatever he and his family would be getting up to in the coming weeks. Instead, he told me that after breakfast he was hoping to quickly duck into the shop to put the finishing touches on a project and then planned to beat his dad in ping-pong before departing camp. It didn’t cross his mind for a second that I was asking about plans beyond Pemi; he still had a couple hours left at camp, and he was going to use every second. Pemi boys truly never stop, so read on to hear more details about what’s been going on here at camp!

End of First Session

On Thursday morning the boys of Lowers 1, 2, and 3 headed up Rattlesnake Mountain and our final group of Juniors trekked up Pemi Hill. With these trips in the books, all our Junior, Lower, and Upper cabins went out on trips, in addition to all the special trips that our Seniors went on and the overnights that boys of all ages opted into. The Lowers group up Rattlesnake was Holden Burr, Max Duque-Pacheco, Alex Harcourt, Cuinn Limmany, Theo Paduch, Graham Smigler, Elliott Tisdale, Theo Barker, Ben Dietz, Charlie Eppes, Winston Nye, Sam Schwartz, Ollie Turnbull, Max Herrod, Riley Stroud, William Tice, and special guest from J6 Rhodin Bernstein. While it’s a slightly larger group than we typically take out into the mountains, the boys demonstrated remarkable trail etiquette and had a great time enjoying lunch on the summit before returning to camp. The Pemi Hill group that evening was Grant Hannon, Emmerich Sauer, Aahren Bhandari, Ian Chandra, Simon Kemp, Jack Peradotto, Henry Stafford, Charlie Woolley, and Armaan Kapur. They had a great dinner up at the shelter, camped out, and were back in camp bright and early to enjoy the last day of Week 3 activities. All of these boys have now laid a strong foundation and are primed to enjoy the Pemi trip program for years to come.

On the farthest end of the spectrum from the Juniors going up Pemi Hill lies the Pemi West experience. A special program designed just for Pemi 16-year-olds in between their final camper summer and their first staff summer, Pemi West gives boys the opportunity to take the skills they’ve learned as campers and put them to the test in even bigger and bolder locations than we have here in New England. This year’s group – Vikram Jay, Ben Jones, Sasha Honig, Mason Winell, Manfred Creane, Alf Andersson, Ethan Onysko, Connor Smillie, Ryan Kittredge, Will Bixby, Alex Fernandez, Sam Wasinger, and Bryce Madom – will spend a week canoeing on the Upper Missouri River and then a week backpacking in the Tobacco Roots Mountains just north of Yellowstone and Big Sky. Pemi works in partnership with the Montana Wilderness School for this spectacular expedition, and our trip leader Jacob Smalley joins two of their guides to head up the trip and give the boys further education in outdoor skills and decision making, leadership, communication, conservation principles, and backcountry navigation. The group arrived at Pemi on Thursday, participated in two days of wilderness first aid training, and then flew from Boston to Bozeman on Sunday to begin their journey. We can’t wait to hear about the experience and to have many of the boys back for the last ten days here at Pemi for the Counselor Apprentice Program. More updates from out west to follow!

Back here in New Hampshire, we had two of our special trips return last week: our caving trip for 14-year-olds and the Allagash canoe trip for full-session 15s. Caving at Pemi dates back to 1982 thanks to the expertise of Larry Davis and his sister Emily, a world-renowned caving expert. The boys visited three caves near Schoharie, NY: Schoharie Caverns, Knox Cave, and Clarksville Cave. They had the chance to both learn about these cavernous regions (known as “karst”) and to push themselves both physically and mentally. The three systems explored on this trip have a number of different features to check out, and the boys have the option to decide for themselves where their individual boundaries lie as they navigate this new environment for the first time. The group – Ronny Guerrero, Charlie Milgrim, Oscar Quinn, Will Dennis, Danny Follansbee, Emmet Greene, Finn Stephan, Micah Tolbert, and Baz White – spent time in the different caves, one dry and two wet, examining and navigating a wide range of different features. Some boys opted to wriggle through the “gun barrel” passage in Knox Cave, a 50-foot long narrow passage known to cavers the world over, and two even worked their way through the shorter but narrower “gun-sight” as well. Everyone in the group moved through waist-deep water in Clarksville Cave and the group shared the sensation of turning out their lights and “seeing” what true darkness looks like. While the peaks and waterways of New England are where our boys primarily trek at Pemi, these guys will never forget their time spent in the caves of New York. (If you’re interested in an in-depth write-up of the caves explored, Larry Davis provided a thorough summary back in a 2010 newsletter).

Our full-session 15-year-olds – Nick McCay, Thomas McNelly, Graeme Newman, Charlie Toomey, Zach Pierson, Ezra Otubusin-Reese, Kai Karsan, and Emmitt Baggish – also returned last week after a five-day trip to the Allagash waterways in northern Maine. Final count was seven moose spotted on the trip, including one right on Route 25A within about five minutes of pulling out of camp last Sunday morning. The boys enjoyed one of the most remote and pristine wilderness regions in the northeast, and they put in several heavy paddling days to push through some suboptimal wind conditions and low river levels. They did so with high spirits and determination, making the best time in recent memory despite the challenging conditions. Their good time, to be clear, was due not to rushing through the trip to try and reach the end, but rather to the strength of the paddlers and their previous canoeing experience. We’ll await the full trip report in Bean Soup this winter, but the exuberance and camaraderie on display as the boys returned speak volumes; these boys clearly made the most of our capstone trip!

We had a number of sporting events towards the end of last week as well, with 15s pickle ball, 11s baseball, and 12s pickle ball all taking place in the closing days of first session, along with our annual counselor baseball game against the staff of Camp Moosilauke. This fun and friendly rivalry dates all the way back to our first summer in 1908 when the Pemi baseball team consisted of the best nine players in camp, meaning a mix of staff and campers. We’ve had a staff baseball game with Moosilauke just about every summer since, and in this 119^th year of competition, the Pemi nine took care of business handily (cheered on by a large Pemi road crowd), demonstrating for the campers just how good of hands they’re in this summer when it comes to baseball instruction.

A group of boys – Charlie Woolley, Ethan Comey, Benjamin Desiato, Teddy Bea, and Wills Waitzkin – embarked on a special nature trip as well, getting the chance to check out Plymouth State University’s Mark Sylvestre Planetarium and their rooftop observatory thanks to visiting professional and Pemi veteran Sam O’Hara. This rare opportunity to check out these top-notch facilities included a guided tour and hands-on demonstrations from a PSU professor. Many thanks to both Sam and PSU’s Dr. Brad Moser for giving our boys an unforgettable afternoon. The Pemi nature program has inspired many a career in the sciences and outdoor education as our boys gain exposure to a remarkable variety of natural settings, program-area experts, and occasionally, such as on this trip, state-of-the-art facilities.

After several eventful days to wrap up Week 3, we headed into our changeover weekend events.

Changeover Weekend

To kick off our changeover weekend, we had our culminating events of the first session: Birthday Banquet, first session awards, and cabin parties. For the Birthday Banquet, we dress in our finest attire and take the opportunity to celebrate all of the campers and staff present who have a birthday during the camp season. Our kitchen team, which spoils us all summer long as it is, pulls out all the stops to put out a delicious Thanksgiving-style feast for every table. Each cabin his its own roast turkey, expertly (or haphazardly) carved by the counselor, and served alongside stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberry jelly, veggies, salad, and fresh baked bread. Every table gets its own birthday cake as well to close out the meal. Our kitchen team deserves immense thanks every day, but the banquets serve as an opportunity to highlight just how well fed and lucky we are in our Mess Hall at Pemi.

The flow of the Birthday Banquet looks different than a regular meal. After finishing with the main course, campers and staff file out of the Mess Hall and onto the porch and surrounding grass while the waiters do a quick clean-up and turnover of the tables, preparing for dessert. At the start of the meal, they parade around the turkeys and then ahead of dessert they process through the Mess Hall with the birthday cakes to cello accompaniment from head of music Evan Anderson. It’s always fun watching the waiters try to make it all the way around and back to their table without the candle on their cake burning out. It’s a hard task that only a few succeed in each year.

After dining so well that many tables don’t even come close to finishing their cakes, we move on to the birthday celebrations. Head of art Mike Herrod and a number of helpers create beautiful birthday signs, each with the name of an individual birthday celebrant, that hang from the rafters during the meal. Groups of boys and staff then offer birthday greetings from any number of different communities that they belong to outside of camp such as New Yorkers, Spaniards, South Africans, Welshmen, Clevelanders, Plymouth State University and Kenyon College, all the Charlies in camp, and many more. It’s a mixture of heartfelt greetings from different cultures and occasional humorous jabs from some small but mighty locations such as Rhode Island and New Jersey. We finish with birthday limericks, one for each birthday celebrant. When their name is called, each boy or staff member will stand up on their bench and listen to their individual birthday poem delivered by the Bean Soup editors. Some highlight talents or traits that a boy has, some poke lighthearted fun at a moment from the summer, and all are written in the spirit of toasting and appreciating each member of our community celebrating a birthday at Pemi. It’s a fun and celebratory climax to a fun and celebratory feast. We conclude the meal with a rousing rendition of “The Marching Song,” a song about how we’ve gathered from all over the world and nation to join the Pemi camp family. Standing on benches, arms around each other’s shoulders, and marching to the beat of the song, we feel the joy and bonds that have been formed during the first part of the Pemi season.

We then moved down to the lawn in front of the Senior Lodge for our first session awards night. Our first session boys accomplished so much in their three weeks at Pemi, and it’s such a treat to highlight all of their endeavors and triumphs. It’s also a chance to see the full breadth of the Pemi program on display as boys earn patches and awards for achievement in athletics, nature, the arts, and trips. We also had one first session boy, Carr Polsinelli, who earned his Pemi Bronze for achievement in all four of these program areas. He’s already hard at work on his Pemi Silver, and we look forward to seeing many more successes from Carr in the summers to come! The other major accomplishment that we celebrated with special acknowledgement on Friday night was Charlie Knapp earning his Tournament Level Water Skier distinction. His name will hang on a plaque in the Mess Hall, and anyone checking it out will notice that there’s nearly a decade gap between the last recipient and Charlie. This is a rare and major accomplishment indeed, and a testament to the tireless work he put in not just these last three weeks but over the course of several summers. Most importantly, every boy departing on Saturday received his Pemi 2026 pennant to mark him as a member of our 2026 camp community.

On Saturday morning camp actually emptied of campers for a few hours as our first session boys departed and our full session guys headed off for their day at the waterpark. It’s always bittersweet seeing campers simultaneously thrilled to reunite with their families and sad to be leaving camp for the summer. The number of boys walking their families around camp to show them what they’d been doing, however, and the number of stories that were already starting to flow before even leaving camp, clearly demonstrated that these boys had incredible Pemi summers. We’re grateful to all of our first session campers and families for being part of the Pemi community, and we can’t wait to see you all back on the shores of Lower Baker Pond next year!

The full session boys, meanwhile, enjoyed a day at Whale’s Tale Waterpark in nearby Lincoln, NH. While the weather took a break for the uninterrupted sunshine we’d been experiencing in the first session, the boys still had a blast and made the most of their time there before returning to camp for night one of visiting weekend. We welcomed in many of our full session families on Saturday evening. They enjoyed dinner in the Mess Hall, getting to experience a full Pemi meal complete with singing and our usual raucous energy.

After dinner we headed down to the Senior Lodge for an indoor Campfire. While we were all disappointed at having to be indoors, those feelings quickly faded as we all were part of one of the single best Campfires I can remember in my years at Pemi. Our full session boys, our staff, and even one of our parents pulled out all the stops and delivered a Campfire for the ages. Campfire stalwart Nick McCay serenade us on the saxophone; Pierce Golay delivered a monologue from Romeo and Juliet; Jacob Modzelewski took advantage of the indoor setting to share a beautiful piano piece; Charlie Toomey was joined by counselors Kabir Mehra, Colin Ross, and Lew Mason as they led the crowd in “Let It Be;” trip counselor Kaelen Frye wowed us with a guitar arrangement; Niam Santiago masterfully played the Prelude from Bach’s Cello Suite No. 1; counselor Finn Cashman flexed his theatrical chops with an excellent pantomime performance; Dylan Thibault belted out an a Capella version of Lady Gaga’s “Shallow;” a counselor and parent trio performed a jaw-dropping rendition of “Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard” with vocals, guitar, and clarinet; a group of boys from Seniors 2 and 3 (Kai Karsan, Emmitt Baggish, Nick McCay, Micah Tolbert, Graeme Newman, Thomas McNelly, Colin McLean, Ezra Otubusin-Reese, Zach Pierson, and Danny Follansbee) sang “Wagon Wheel;” and Larry Davis finished things off with a story. While I’d love to tell the parents in the audience that every Pemi Campfire is that clean and well-rounded from top to bottom, our theme this summer is integrity and so I have to honestly state that this one was above and beyond. The amount of talent in the Pemi community never ceases to amaze me; what a treat that Campfire was!

On Sunday morning we gathered down at Junior Point for our annual Dunkin’ Docs Polar Bear. We woke up a bit early, all jogged down to Junior Point, and did Polar Bear at its historical location where the lake drops off after just a few feet of shoreline. After the dip the boys enjoyed homemade churros and hot cocoa before heading to breakfast and then out for the day with their families.

Start of Second Session

After breakfast on Sunday, we began to welcome in our second session boys for their four weeks at Pemi. Just like on opening day, our older boys came in first in the morning followed by younger guys in the afternoon. Our camp community gets slightly older in terms of average age and slightly more experienced in terms of average years at camp during the second session, so it was a slightly different feel, especially on Sunday morning. Most of the boys coming in then were Pemi veterans who wanted to get dropped off as quickly as possible and get straight into the action. Old friends immediately sought each other out, and in what seemed like a matter of seconds, the tennis courts were filled, baseballs were flying through the air, and soccer balls were zipping across the pitch. As they arrived boys were also able to sign up right away for their Week 4 activities, as unlike at the start of first session, there’s no buffer Sunday between boys arriving and activities beginning the next day. Lunch consisted primarily of older second session boys and a few full session guys, and then we prepared to welcome in our younger boys in the afternoon.

With more of those afternoon arrivals being new campers, that stretch had the classic mixture of excitement and appropriate nervousness as boys embarked on their first sleep-away camp experience. Just like at the start of first session, however, the energetic and confident smiles of our cabin counselors quickly set nerves at ease, as boys and families both felt the warmth and confidence emanating from our staff. In no time at all, the boys were saying their goodbyes, making their beds, and setting off on tours of camp or to start playing with newfound friends.

Of course the opening day of second session had an interesting wrinkle to it, as the World Cup final took place at 3pm on Sunday afternoon. With a large Spanish contingent, a smaller Argentinian one, and tons of major soccer fans, we knew that we’d have to adjust our typical schedule to accommodate the match. We postponed second session swim checks until Monday, and our buildings and grounds team transformed the Junior Lodge into a perfect theater to fit the occasion. Campers and staff alike drifted in throughout the match, and as it hit the hour mark, the Junior Lodge was jam packed. Appropriate for the theater-like game atmosphere, we even had our industrial popcorn machine up and running, and head of music Evan Anderson took on a new role as our head of concessions, putting in a truly selfless two-hour shift cooking up and dishing out popcorn for all before eventually being spelled by trippie Grace St. Clair-Bates. I’ll spare you my armchair punditry about the match, but suffice it to say that our Spaniards were on cloud nine when the final whistle sounded.

Immediately following the match, we streamed into the Mess Hall for the opening dinner of second session. Our full session boys had returned at this point, so we had essentially our full community in attendance with the energy in the building to match. A few minutes into the meal, our Spanish boys made a dramatic celebratory entrance and paraded around the Mess Hall to much cheering from their friends and counselors. Many of us Pemi alumni have fond memories of watching World Cup finals at camp, but this celebration with our strong Spanish crew surpasses any previous one that I personally remember. We continued with the upbeat vibes as we chowed down on our traditional opening meal of pizza, salad, and ice cream. Singing at dinner was loud and energetic, and it was clear that the Pemi community was ready for a stellar four weeks to come.

Given the heavy trip schedule coming up here in Week 4, we had to make a slight pivot to our normal Week 4 Sunday night by adding in a Junior-Senior Buddies Campfire before the opening Campfire of second session. Immediately following the meal, Juniors and Seniors headed down to the Campfire Circle, met their buddies, toasted marshmallows, and enjoyed an hour of hanging out and playing various games before the rest of camp joined for our traditional Campfire. Junior and Senior buddies sat together which made for a great scene and gave our youngest boys an immediate sense of belonging at Pemi. The Campfire itself consisted of great acts from Cairo Clapper, George Kingdon, Pierce Golay, Nick McCay, Jacob Modzelewski, Will Drummond, Charlie Toomey, and Dylan Thibault. We appreciated both the guys who jumped in to perform two nights in a row and those who performed mere hours after arriving. As we joined arms and sang The Campfire Song, it was apparent that we’re in for another magical session here at Pemi.

And then just like that, we hit the ground running on Monday morning. Week 4 activities started right after Inspection, we had 13s tennis and 15s hoops tournaments, swim checks, open program areas, and Bean Soup on Monday night. This morning our 14s canoe trip left camp at 4am for a trip to the Rangeley Lakes in Maine. Ben Comey, Will Dennis, Isaac Flecker, Danny Follansbee, Emmet Greene, Charles Grundy, Brian Lorig, Micah Tolbert, Wills Waitzkin, and Cairo Clapper are in for quite the trip as they spend four days on the water under the tutelage of Reilly McCue and Phil Landry. The boys of Lowers 5 and 6 – Charles Golay, Morgan Greene, Arthur Johnson, George Kingdon, Declan McGovern, Jacob Modzelewski, Drew Nelson, Myles Woolley, Declan Donohoe, Felix Grant, Caleb Greenberg, Pierce O’Shaughnessy, Ashe Pages, Henry Raslavicus, James Soldano, and Xander Wasinger – also set off up Mt. Moosilauke this morning for one of the best day hikes Pemi offers. In total we plan (weather permitting) to send 118 boys out on trips to the mountains this week, so get ready for a newsletter next week that’s chock full of names! An 11s soccer tournament is also currently underway here at Pemi, so stay tuned for the match reports from that effort.

With that tournament in mind, I’ll sign off here and get back out into camp to see how our boys are spending a slightly rainy afternoon (if you’ve read this far, you know the rain isn’t slowing them down one bit)!

Until next week,

– Pat Clare